Table of contents

HUNTINGTON

The parish of Huntington, which includes the
townships of Earswick and Towthorpe, lies about
3 miles north of York. Huntington itself covers
nearly 3,018 acres, while the areas of Earswick and
Towthorpe are 751 acres and 1,074 acres respectively.
The proportion of arable (where cereals are chiefly
grown) to pasture land is about 3 to 5. In most
parts of the parish the elevation is 50 ft. above
ordnance datum. The soil is principally clay on a
subsoil of bunter sandstone.

The principal road in the parish enters it from
Strensall on the north and leads southwards through
Towthorpe and Earswick to Huntington village. A
considerable part of Towthorpe, which lies in the
north-west of the parish, is incorporated in the great
military encampment on Strensall Plain. Here are
the Queen's Parade, officers' quarters and rifle ranges,
east of which Towthorpe Common stretches to the
borders of Stockton-on-the Forest, whilst the little
village with its manor-house and moat stands southwest of the camp on a branch road leading to
Stockton and separating Towthorpe from Earswick
on the south. There are now two villages in this
last township. Earswick, the older, lies west of the
highway and is built on both sides of a branch road
leading from it to the River Foss, which here forms
the boundary between Earswick and Haxby on the
west. The other village, New Earswick, belongs to
Messrs. Rowntree and is inhabited by their workpeople and the employes of other York firms. (fn. 1)

From Earswick the highway bears past Huntington
North Moor and Wood on the east to the village of
Huntington, which stretches on either side of it.
Huntington possesses a Wesleyan Methodist chapel,
built before 1857, enlarged in 1867 and rebuilt in
1900. At the north end of the village is Huntington
Hall, possibly occupying the site of the first home
of the Holmes, which stood on the east side of
the Foss (fn. 2); the Manor House is at its southern
extremity. Near the centre Church Lane, crossing
the Foss by Church Bridge, to which in 1435
Margaret Darell left two torches and her best gilded
girdle, (fn. 3) leads to the church of All Saints and West
Huntington Hall. (fn. 4) In the churchyard is the base
and shaft of a mediaeval cross, re-erected with a new
head in 1874, and at the corner of Church Lane is
the base and part of the shaft of another stone cross.

Below the village the highway forks; one branch,
as Huntington Road, leads to Earswick station on
the York, Market Weighton and Beverley branch of
the North Eastern railway and thence to the southwestern corner of the parish, crossing the Foss at
Yearsley Bridge, close to the fever hospital for York
city, opened here in 1902. The other, which, as
Huntington New Lane, runs due south with Huntington South Moor on its right, is crossed by the
railway a mile below the village, and soon after passing Huntington Grange joins the high road from
York to Malton. In 1606 the inhabitants of Huntington were presented at the quarter sessions for
neglecting to repair this part of the king's highway, (fn. 5)
which falls within their borders for but a short
distance. Similar charges were brought against them
and the townsfolk of Earswick somewhat later (fn. 6) with
reference to other roads, one only a footpath from
Earswick village to the moor, another 'the road east
of the Foss,' which seems to be Huntington New Lane.

The Foss, once believed to be an artificial work of
the Romans, and now rather a canal than a river, (fn. 7)
flows through all three townships, dividing Huntington proper into East and West Huntington, a distinction which probably existed in the 15th century,
when certain landowners held 'on both sides of the
water.' (fn. 8) From 1606 to 1625 the name of Istle,
Isell or Essell Bridge occurs, (fn. 9) and in 1697 and 1715
grants were made for the repair of Huntington
Bridge, on the first occasion on the ground that it
was 'of great use to the county.' (fn. 10) The fishery of the
Foss from York to the mill of the Abbot of St. Mary's,
above Earsley, now Yearsley Bridge, is said to have
belonged to the king. (fn. 11) A little stream, the South
Beck, possibly identical with the River Fossett named
with the Foss itself amongst the boundaries of Huntington Manor in 1656, (fn. 12) here empties itself into the
larger river.

Huntington, as one of its 16th-century names
denotes, was in the forest of Galtres, (fn. 13) and it was
once the custom to set a light in the lantern tower
of its church as a beacon for wanderers there. (fn. 14) Very
little woodland now remains. Land called 'the
New Intack' was inclosed by the elder Sir Arthur
Ingram, (fn. 15) probably about 1629, when he entered
into an agreement with the king for disafforesting the
lands belonging to his manor which fell within the
forest, (fn. 16) and the inclosure of a common in Earswick,
600 acres in extent, took place in 1770. (fn. 17)

Among Huntington place-names of the 13th
century are Whyteker and Langelondes (fn. 18); of the
16th and 17th centuries Haxbie feld or Hercrike
More, later Arcricke alias Harcricke Moore and Smithgate; of the 17th, Butcher Ynge, Batchler Close,
Milne Crookes, Smythie Gavells, Thisete Close,
Fogge Close, Pillie Close, the Scarrs Close, Kilne
Garth, Jedwell Close, and, of special interest as preserving the memory of two families long resident in
this part of the county, Seath Agars Close and
Lazenby Close. (fn. 19)

Manors

Two 'manors' in HUNTINGTON,
containing 5 geld carucates and owned
by Torchil and Tormord under the
Confessor, came before 1086 to the Count of
Mortain. (fn. 20) It is probable that here, as in Sheriff
Hutton (q.v.), the overlordship passed through Niel
Fossard, the count's sub-tenant at the Survey, to the
Mauleys, of whom this land was held until 1384. (fn. 21)
By the next century their rights seem to have fallen
into abeyance, (fn. 22) and in 1588 the manor of Huntington was found to be held of the queen as of her
manor of Sheriff Hutton. (fn. 23)

In the reign of Henry III the Mauley lands in
Huntington were occupied by three sub-tenants,
Anketin Mallory, Richard de Barnby and Walter de
Towthorpe. (fn. 24) No other mention of the tenure of
Richard and Walter survives, and though the name
of Anketin (fn. 25) is found in connexion with Huntington
as late as 1384, (fn. 26) it is difficult to determine what his
heirs held here. Neither of his sons Anketin and
Nicholas left issue, (fn. 27) and when Nicholas died in 1275
his possessions, which in Huntington were inconsiderable, passed to his four sisters. (fn. 28) John Langton was the
heir of Nicholas Salvin, who, as great-grandson of
Margery the eldest, inherited her purparty and that of
her sister Avis. (fn. 29) A settlement of a messuage and
8 oxgangs in Huntington made in 1376 by John
Keulay and his wife Katherine with remainder, in
default of Katherine's issue, to John son of John
Langton of York and his heirs (fn. 30) suggests that the
elder Anketin's lands here passed to his daughters,
and that Katherine Keulay's holding represents the
share of Margery and Avis.

John Keulay and his sons joined the Percy rebellion, and in 1405 a life grant of their forfeited
lands in Huntington was made to the king's esquire,
Gerald Herun. (fn. 31) In 1428, however, one of these sons,
William Keulay, appears amongst the tenants who
held the Mauley fee in separate portions. (fn. 32) Another
tenant, William Darell, a landowner also in 1412, (fn. 33)
held land with his son Richard in 1428. (fn. 34) After
the death of Richard in 1439 or 1440 (fn. 35) Thomas
Higham, his kinsman, sued Robert Ingleby, Richard's
executor, (fn. 36) for the manor of Huntington, which, as
he alleged, Richard had settled on Robert in trust
for himself and his heirs. (fn. 37)

Keulay. Party bendwise and battled argent and sable.Holme. Argent a cheveron azure between three chaplets gules.

In the absence of evidence to the contrary it may
be assumed that this portion of the Mauley fee was
acquired by the Holme family, who were established
in Huntington before the close of the 15th century. (fn. 38)
Their tenure probably began with the marriage of
Katherine daughter and heir of John Keulay of
York with Robert Holme. (fn. 39) John Holme their son
was succeeded at his death in 1490 by his son
Thomas, (fn. 40) who made a settlement of the manor on
the marriage of his son and heir Wilfrid Holme with
Elizabeth Constable in 1511. (fn. 41) Wilfrid, who inherited in or before 1522, died in 1538, (fn. 42) probably
'in Huntington in Yorkshire commorant patrimonial,'
where he wrote in 1537 his poem on the Pilgrimage
of Grace. (fn. 43) From his only son Seth, whose wardship
and marriage were in 1544 granted to John Genyns,
groom of the Privy Chamber, (fn. 44) the manor descended
in 1588 to his son and heir another Seth Holme, (fn. 45)
lord in 1594, (fn. 46) by whom with his son Robert it was
sold thirteen years later to Richard Burrell. (fn. 47) Richard
and his wife Jane sold Huntington in 1612 to
Arthur Ingram, (fn. 48) lord in 1629 and 1638. (fn. 49) In the
latter year he held the estate in conjunction with his
elder son Arthur; but in 1647 the manor was in
the possession of his younger son Sir Thomas Ingram
with his wife Frances. (fn. 50) It was sold nine years later
by Thomas Ingram, the second Sir Arthur's son, to
Leonard Weddell and his nephew the younger
William Weddell, both of Earswick, (fn. 51) who had already
acquired the site of one, probably the older, manorhouse with some land. (fn. 52) The inheritance of William's
sons, Metcalfe and Thomas, seems to have descended
to their sister Margaret's son, Richard Elcock, who
took the surname of Weddell. Richard's surviving
son William was in 1770 lord of the manor of
Huntington (fn. 53); in 1792, on his death without issue,
it passed to Thomas Philip Robinson, great-grandson
of the Sir William Robinson whose aunt Margaret
Robinson had married William Weddell of Earswick. (fn. 54)
As Thomas Philip Weddell, Lord Grantham, he held
Huntington in 1804 (fn. 55) as he
did as Earl De Grey in 1857. (fn. 56)
After his death in 1859 (fn. 57) it
came to his daughter Lady
Mary Vyner, whose son
Robert Charles De Grey
Vyner is now lord of the
manor. (fn. 58)

Vyner. Azure a bend or and a chief argent with two choughs therein.

Two carucates and 6 oxgangs in Huntington held by
Fredgist and Arnegrim before
the Norman Conquest as two
'manors' belonged to the king
in 1086. (fn. 59) Some part of this
land seems to have remained
in the Crown until 1267,
when Henry III granted the rent of the vill of Huntington to his son Edmund. (fn. 60) In 1392 Sir Henry
Scrope died seised of land in Huntington held of
the king (fn. 61); this is probably the land which he had
acquired in 1351, and which his son Sir John Scrope
recovered in 1424. (fn. 62)

At the time of the Domesday Survey the soke of a
carucate and 2 oxgangs in Huntington, then waste,
belonged to Count Alan's manor of Foston. (fn. 63)

A considerable amount of land in Huntington
held by the brothers of the hospital of St. John of
Jerusalem in 1189 (fn. 64) was increased during the following century (fn. 65) until by 1303 they owned 4 carucates
here, (fn. 66) and their prior was the only landowner whose
name was returned for the parish in 1316. (fn. 67) In
1456 Sir John, in 1475 Sir Thomas, Scrope of
Masham were amongst the prior's tenants, (fn. 68) and
when a bailiff was appointed for the lands of St. John
of Jerusalem's Preceptory of Holy Trinity, Beverley,
in 1543, Huntington was one of the manors in his
charge. (fn. 69)

Agnes Agar, who at her death in 1592 held land
of the queen as of her manor of Huntington in free
socage 'by fealty and the payment of one rose in
the time of roses' was perhaps one of the tenants of
this land, but its later history is unknown. (fn. 70)

The abbey of St. Mary, York, to which the
Conqueror granted a carucate in Huntington, (fn. 71) held
land here from that time until its surrender. (fn. 72) Other
religious houses enjoying possessions in this parish
were the hospitals of St. Leonard and St. Nicholas
and Guisborough Priory. (fn. 73)

A fifth of a windmill was part of the tenement in
Huntington held by Emma Bacon of Peter Mauley
in 1322. (fn. 74) There was a windmill also in 1460. (fn. 75)
In 1607 a capital messuage on the west bank of the
Foss, fishing, court leet and view of frankpledge were
appurtenances of Huntington Manor, (fn. 76) but the site
only of a capital messuage is mentioned in the
conveyance of 1656. (fn. 77)

Three geld carucates in EARSWICK (Edrezwyc,
Edresuuic, xi cent.; Etheirwike, Etherswyk, Ersewyk,
xiv cent.; Erstewycke, Estwyk, Arswiche, xvi cent.)
held of St. Peter by Sasford and Godric before the
Conquest belonged to the see of York in 1086 and
afterwards formed part of the manor of Strensall (fn. 78)
(q.v.).

A fee in this township consisting of a carucate and
2 oxgangs and unaccounted for by the Domesday
surveyors, unless it was then included in St. Peter's fee,
was held of Peter Mauley in 1303. (fn. 79) By 1322,
however, the overlordship had been transferred to
Ranulph de Nevill, (fn. 80) and henceforth descended with
Sheriff Hutton (fn. 81) (q.v.), the manor of Earswick being
in 1567 held of the queen as of her manor of Sheriff
Hutton, but by socage instead of by military service
as in the 14th century. (fn. 82)

In 1303 the sub-tenant here was Bartholomew
Bacon, (fn. 83) who was dead in 1322, when the keeper of
the lands of certain Yorkshire rebels received orders
not to intermeddle with the possessions which he
had held jointly with his wife Emma, (fn. 84) those in
Earswick being described as a manor in 1328, when
Emma's possession was disputed by Emma widow of
Walter de Scorby. (fn. 85) There is no evidence that
Bartholomew's son John, who was living in 1348, (fn. 86)
inherited his father's estates, the tenants of which
were Hugh atte Water and Robert de Huntington
in 1367, and in 1389 John Sadington and his wife
Margaret. (fn. 87) Nothing relating to the history of
Earswick from 1389 to 1543 has been found in the
public records. In the latter year Sir William
Gascoigne settled the manor, which may have come
to him through his grandmother Joan Nevill, (fn. 88) for
life on his younger son John with remainder to his
elder son and heir William. (fn. 89) John Gascoigne was in
possession in 1557, after the death of his brother, (fn. 90)
whose son, the third Sir William Gascoigne, died
seised in 1567. (fn. 91) Margaret, his only child and heir,
was then the wife of Thomas Wentworth of Wentworth, and their son Sir William Wentworth was
selling land in Earswick and Towthorpe at the close
of the 16th century. (fn. 92) It is not clear at what date
nor by what steps the manor passed from the
Wentworths to the Weddells. Probably it was
acquired by the son of Leonard Weddell of Clifton, (fn. 93)
described in 1633, 1649 and 1650 as William
Weddell of Earswick. (fn. 94) From 1656 it possibly remained in the same hands as Huntington Manor
(q.v.), with which it has descended from 1770 to the
present day.

In 1323 Emma Bacon owned a capital messuage
and rent from a windmill in Earswick. (fn. 95) A capital
messuage with land here was held by John Foster of
the prebendary of Strensall at the end of the 16th
century. (fn. 96)

In TOWTHORPE (Touetorp, xi cent.; Touthorp, Towthropp, xiv cent.; Thorlesthorpe, xv
cent.; Thowthorpe, xvi cent.), as in Earswick, 3 geld
carucates, held by Sasford of St. Peter before the
Conquest, belonged to the see of York, (fn. 97) and were
afterwards included in the prebendal manor of
Strensall (fn. 98) (q.v.)

Another carucate, mentioned only in the 'Recapitulation' was owned by the Count of Mortain
in 1086, (fn. 99) and seems to be one of the two held at
the beginning of the 14th century of the Mauleys. (fn. 100)
Their rights, which survived until 1347, (fn. 101) seem to
have lapsed before 1428, when several tenants occupied,
in separate portions, the 6 carucates in Huntington
and Towthorpe described as once of Peter Mauley. (fn. 102)
From the middle of the 15th until the beginning of
the 17th century this fee was classed amongst the lands
held as of the manor of Sheriff Hutton (fn. 103) (q.v.) and
was called parcel of its demesne in 1603, (fn. 104) after
which the lordship seems to have fallen into abeyance.
The name of only one early sub-tenant, Walter de
Towthorpe, who held in 1303, (fn. 105) has been preserved.
By the early Tudor sovereigns the fee was let out to
farm until 1540, when Henry VIII granted a lease
of the manor of Towthorpe for thirty-one years to
Sir George Lawson. (fn. 106) Elizabeth granted it to Lancelot
Turner in 1603, (fn. 107) and twenty-six years later it was
sold by William Turner and his wife Thomasine
to Thomas Bowles and his wife Mary. (fn. 108) Anne, their
daughter, brought the manor in marriage to Sir
William Dalston, bart., (fn. 109) who, compounding with the
Long Parliament in 1645, asked leave 'to produce
proof of the charges on his lands at Towthorp.' (fn. 110)
Together with his father Sir George Dalston, Sir
William in 1673 settled Towthorpe on his son and
heir John, (fn. 111) who held with his wife Margaret and their
son Charles in 1708. (fn. 112) From Charles Dalston, lord in
1709, (fn. 113) the manor afterwards passed to John Smyth
of Heath, who owned it in 1745 and 1774. (fn. 114) It
was in the possession of his grandson John Henry
Smyth in 1810 (fn. 115) and of John George Smyth in
1859, (fn. 116) but since 1872 Mr. Riley Briggs of Osgodby
Hall has been lord.

Court leet and view of frankpledge were included
in the grant to Lancelot Turner. (fn. 117) One dovecote
belonged to the manor in 1647, (fn. 118) six in 1810, when
four corn-mills and free warren, besides court leet
and view of frankpledge, were enumerated as appurtenances. (fn. 119)

Church

The church of ALL SAINTS consists of a chancel, nave with north aisle
and tower on the south side and an
organ chamber. The structure, with the exception
of parts of the chancel, is modern, but the re-erected
south door is evidence of the existence of a church
here in the 12th century. The chancel, where
ancient, is apparently of 15th-century date. The
nave and tower were rebuilt in 1874.

The chancel has a three-light 15th-century east
window, and in the south side are two windows of
similar character, each of two lights, the western,
however, with the surrounding wall, being modern
restoration. There is also a priest's door on this side
with a low-side window, having a cusped head,
immediately to the west of it. The triple sedilia
with a small piscina in the south wall have all
pointed arches. The western bay of the chancel is
modern, as are the chancel arch and the two arches in
the north wall opening into the organ chamber. The
nave is designed in the 13th-century Gothic style and
has a north aisle of three bays, the arcade resting on
red granite columns. The old south door re-erected
under the modern tower has a late 12th-century round
arch recessed in two orders, of which the inner is
modern. The jambs have each a single side shaft,
the caps having volutes at the angles and square abaci.
The stone bowl of the old font now lies in the
churchyard. The communion table with turned
legs is Jacobean, as is the handsome pulpit. The
latter is hexagonal with diminishing pilasters at the
angles and an arcaded panel in each face. The cornice is carved and the base bears the inscription
'Where there is no vision the people perish.
Prov. 29, 18.' The stem is of the same period, but
the stand is much later. At the west end of the nave
are two stone coffin lids with incised floreated crosses,
probably of the 13th century.

The modern tower stands on the south side of the
nave, the base forming a porch. It is surmounted by
a stone spire, and contains six bells, five of which
were cast or recast in 1881 and the remaining one
in 1884.

The plate includes a cup (York, 1783) given by
the Rev. James Brooke, vicar in 1784, and a modern
flagon and paten.

The registers before 1812 are as follows: (i) mixed
entries 1590 to 1715; (ii) baptisms and burials 1716
to 1768, marriages to 1753; (iii) marriages 1754 to
1813; (iv) baptisms and burials 1768 to 1812.

Advowson

The church of Huntington, which
since 1432, if not earlier, has been
under the invocation to All Saints, (fn. 120)
belonged in 1086 to the Count of Mortain's manor. (fn. 121)
The advowson afterwards came to the abbey of
Evesham, whose abbot Roger granted it to Richard
Abbot of Whitby in 1159 or 1160 (fn. 122) on the understanding that a pension of 10s. should be paid from
the church to Evesham. (fn. 123) In 1267 the abbot's presentation of William Potto was disputed by Hugh de
Lisle, who had been rector since 1241, but Lisle was
induced by the archbishop to resign, and a pension
of £10 was assigned him. (fn. 124) It seems that the transference of this church to the see of York had been
proposed before 1291, when it was described as
'appropriated to the vicars of the church of York,' (fn. 125)
but sixty years elapsed before licence was granted for
its alienation by the Abbot of Whitby to the warden
and vicars of the church of St. Peter and its appropriation by them, (fn. 126) which is said to have been completed in 1353, a vicarage being ordained in the
following year. (fn. 127) Since 1351 the advowson and
rectory of Huntington have remained in the possession
of the sub-chanter and vicars-choral of York. (fn. 128)

A dwelling-house and 2 oxgangs belonged to the
vicarage in 1535, (fn. 129) but three centuries later there
was no glebe-house here. (fn. 130) In 1432 William Darell
willed to be buried in Huntington Church before
the crucifix. (fn. 131) The images of St. Mary and St. John
the Evangelist are also mentioned, to which, with
the image of St. John the Baptist, John Duk, the
vicar, left 13s. 4d. in 1476. (fn. 132) Another bequest of
this testator was for making a glass window to light
the rood-loft. (fn. 133) A later vicar, William Appelton, in
1517 left beehives to maintain the lamp hanging
before the altar of our Lady in the body of the
church. (fn. 134) It seems from a grant made by the parish
of Ingleby Arncliffe in 1610 that Huntington Church
was rebuilt, at least in part, about this date. (fn. 135)

In 1333 there was in the parish a chapel of St.
Augustine, whose hermit, Robert de Skitheby, then
received a safe conduct whilst seeking alms for making
a safe way at a dangerous spot in the forest of Galtres. (fn. 136)

Charities

In 1641 John Vaux, by will, gave
£1 a year for the poor and £1 a
year to the vicar for sermons. The
payments are made by the corporation of York.

In 1710 William Harrison, by will, gave 12s. a
year to the poor out of his estate near the church.
The annuity was formerly received from Mr. W.
Driffield and applied to the relief of the sick poor.

A sum of 17s. a year is paid out of the church
funds in respect of £17 given by the Rev. — Bailey
and others, and distributed among the poor in sums
of 1s. 6d. to 4s. to each person.

John Hodgson, by will proved in 1891, bequeathed
£250 for the benefit of the poor. The legacy is
invested in £252 0s. 6d. Belfast Corporation 3½ per
cent. stock; the annual interest is applied in the distribution of coal.

Mrs. Mary Ann Gibson in 1898 bequeathed £200
invested in £201 6s. 9d. like stock. The interest is
distributed among the poor in groceries at Christmas.
The stock is held by the official trustee.

Footnotes

1. Pop. Ret. 1901. Local information
has been kindly supplied for this article
by the Rev. E. S. Fox.